We know it’s only Tuesday, but we can almost guarantee we’re not going to see a dunk better than these two all week… maybe all year for that matter. Let us know in the comment section below which dunk you like better, and we’ll highlight that as the dunk of the week.

During Pro Bowl week, surfing giant Kelly Slater went surfing with some giants of the gridiron. Tony Gonzalez, Drew Brees and Doug Flutie were among the current and former players to participate. The outing was taped for surf.transworld.net. There Justin Cote writes:

The surf was perfect for the NFL guys; 2-foot wind swell that broke way outside and gently rolled to the beach. Tony Gonzalez, who grew up in Huntington Beach and was even on the surf team in junior high, was the standout among the players, but Brees seemed to have the most fun, he even did a superman dive into the camera as I was filming him on a wave. It was as if he diving into the end zone for the winning TD.

I encourage you all to follow the link and watch the vids for yourself. If not, feel free to click on the image above to enlarge the collage.

Whether you’re an avid football fan or just a casual spectator, by now you’ve probably heard of Giants WR Victor Cruz… or at least seen his end zone dance, but what else do you know about this budding star?

The Early Years

Victor Cruz was born to Blanca Cruz on November 11, 1986. He’s half black, half Puerto Rican; growing up with a Hispanic mother he’s bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. It’s ironic that the Giants signed him as an undrafted free agent, as he’s pretty much a homegrown kid, growing up in Paterson, NJ – about 20 miles from Manhattan.

Victor Cruz, representing Paterson Catholic, practices back in 2004 for the New Jersey North-South High School Football All-Star Game.

There he went to Paterson Catholic where he played basketball, but truly shined as a two way football star playing both wide receiver and defensive back for the Parochial Group 1 champions. His senior year he tallied 19 total touchdowns: 15 receiving, one rushing, one punt return, one kickoff return and one interception return, with the kickoff return and interception return amazingly coming within :30 seconds of game time of each other. His play on the field earned him First Team All-North Jersey, First-Team All-Passaic County, First Team All-B.P.S.L., First Team Parochial All-State and Second- Team Associated Press All-State honors. He also played in the North-South All-Star Football Classic at Rutgers Stadium. After graduating in 2004, Cruz needed an extra semester at Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, Maine before moving on to the University of Massachusetts.

Say What? Yeah, according to the shirt ripping wrestler, who now stars in his own reality TV show Hogan Knows Best, he almost joined an early version of the band. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was a session musician before becoming a wrestler, and apparently was close friends with Metalica drummer Lars Ulrich.

Hogan told The Sun: “I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler. I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn’t work out.”

Aaron Rodgers put up the best season passer rating in history (122.5) with other-worldly numbers of 4,643 yards, 45 touchdown passes and six interceptions, and along the way he managed to make State Farm relevant again in the insurance industry. It was that kind of year for the reigning Super Bowl MVP, as seemingly everything he touched turned to gold during the Green Bay Packers’ 15-1 campaign. With 413½ votes from our pool of 632 NFL players, coaches and executives, Rodgers won handily over second-place Drew Brees (112 votes). NFC North opponents were left doing a double-take while trying to slow Rodgers, a seventh-year pro.

A few of their observations on his 2011 season:

Matt Toeaina, DT, Bears: “He’s just so composed. He’s cool in the pocket and very accurate. He’s got a good group of guys around him, and you can’t get him rattled. You pretty much feel that if you can get a quarterback rattled, you can do some damage. But Aaron Rodgers is just a true professional. He trusts the guys around him, and he’s well-deserving of player of the year.”

Tim Jennings, CB, Bears: “He’s consistent. He’s just one of those quarterbacks who is so elite. He knows the offense so well right now that he’s able to throw off defenses. He’s looking one way and then going back the other way without tipping anything off. It looks like he does a good job of critiquing himself because he is getting all flaws out of his game. It’s kind of hard to get a read off of him at all now. It’s like he’s driving a car and knows all the buttons, how to operate it, with that offense. Reading him is something our defense has to do a better job of … and honing in on that. And he’s so accurate. He’s just a good quarterback playing at a high level now.”Continue reading →